Paul Gaustad spent most of the night standing up for his teammates, especially goalie Ryan Miller. And when the Buffalo

Sabres were on the verge of ultra-embarrassing collapse, he scored the goal that got things

back in order.

"It was big for our team to get the win, and we knew it would be a physical game with a lot of

passion," Gaustad said after the 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. "I thought we really

stepped up and played well together."

Gaustad was certainly near the top of that list. An assist on Jochen Hecht's goal 37 seconds

into the game, the goal, two fights. Gordie Howe would have been proud.

Gaustad got into a scrap with Jamal Mayers in the second period and then went toe-to-toe with

Pavel Kubina in the third. But Kubina was an accessory as Gaustad was chasing Alexei

Ponikarovsky around the ice after the Leafs forward ran right through Miller in the crease.

Kubina intercepted Gaustad and the Buffalo center was more than willing to oblige him.

"We want to do that not just for Ryan but for our other teammates, too," Gaustad said. "It's a

pack mentality and that's what we have to do. Ryan was really sharp and solid. Credit to him

being sharp coming back from an injury."

"He's really tried to shape himself as a leader," Miller said of Gaustad. "He really feels

like he can contribute on both parts of the ice. Him stepping up and going up to the net is

big for us. Him stepping up, setting a physical tone shows other guys they have to go both

ways."

And while both fights got the fans' trademark "Goooose" call going, they reached their

crescendo for the night when Gaustad poked a Hecht rebound past Justin Pogge at 10:56 of the

third. It restored Buffalo's two-goal lead and ended a string of three straight Toronto goals

that had suddenly turned a 4-0 Buffalo advantage into a tenuous one at best. It was Gaustad's

10th goal of the season and first in 10 games.

"We just talked on the bench. We have confidence. We have poise," Gaustad said. "It was

time to show it, time to puff up our chests a little bit and go after it. We can't sit back

and we went right after them. We have to show confidence."

. . .

Winger Drew Stafford played a regular shift after seeing only eight minutes of action

Wednesday against Florida — and then getting sentenced to the fifth line in practice

Thursday. Stafford was reunited with Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek for Friday's game and played

15 minutes.

"Message received, and I'm definitely trying to get ready," Stafford said. "I need to keep

working harder. I have to turn up the tenacity, a little bit of the competitiveness as far as

battling and competing for pucks a little more."

Stafford admitted he's been frustrated by his recent slump, which has seen just two goals

and two assists over the last 14 games after he had collected eight goals and four assists

over the previous 12.

"You start out kind of slow, you fix it, you're going great, you're winning, you're producing

and all of a sudden it kind of stops," he said. "The only way to get out of it is to keep

working. Time will tell, but unfortunately we don't have any time so it needs to happen now."

. . .

Sabres captain Craig Rivet played in his 800th career NHL game, becoming the 94th active

player to reach that mark and one of 487 in NHL history. The 34-year-old played his first game

for Montreal against Boston on April 15, 1995.

Rivet left with 16:54 left in the third period after getting struck flush in the face by a

shot from Toronto's Boyd Devereaux but came back and finished the game.

. . .

The Sabres have outscored their opponents, 72-53, in the first period this season. They've

been outscored, 152-142, in the second and third combined.